Still basking in the afterglow of an impressive victory over arch-rival DLSU in its final second round assignment, Ateneo enters the UAAP Final Four with the unmistakable swagger of a title contender.

The Blue Eagles could have treated the game as a high-profile warm-up, hyped-up practice scrimmage having wrapped up the top spot and twice-to-beat advantage prior to Saturday’s showdown with the Green Archers. La Salle, on the other hand, needed to win to avoid facing FEU in a play-off for the second spot and the twice-to-beat advantage that comes with it.

Ateneo could afford to lose. The Eagles, however, played like they couldn’t.

The Eagles’ defensive effort frustrated Jvee Casio to no end. Rabeh Al-Husseini and Nonoy Baclao made big plays when La Salle was banging on the doors. The result was a convincing win for Ateneo and allowed the Eagles to sprint into the Final Four, as opposed to limping into the oh-so-crucial semifinal round.

In a way, the Blue Eagles really needed to win. They needed to win because, well, it was an Ateneo-La Salle game. Second, you wouldn’t want to end a brilliant elimination round performance with a whimper. Third and perhaps most importantly, Ateneo needed to stay sharp even in a perceived no-bearing game.

While FEU was undoubtedly cheering for Ateneo to beat DLSU, UE was another keen spectator during Saturday’s contest. The Red Warriors enter the Final Four with a 3-game winning streak and a confidence-boosting win over FEU last September 4. The last thing Ateneo needed was to lose to DLSU and give UE even more confidence.

Ateneo (1) now faces UE (4) in the Final Four next week as twice-to-beat favorites. Sure, UAAP history is on Ateneo’s side having scored dramatic post-season wins at UE’s bitter expense — “The 10-minute Miracle” in the 1987 UAAP Finals in which Ateneo overcame a 20-point lead to win the championship over Jerry Codinera and the Red Warriors and Gec Chia’s buzzer beating shot heard ’round the world ousting the twice-to-beat Warriors and sending Ateneo into the 2002 title series.

UE, however, has that strange luxury 4th ranked teams in the Final Four have: if UE loses to Ateneo, ho-hum, it’s supposed to happen. If Ateneo loses to UE, it suddenly becomes front page news.

It’s an altogether different story for DLSU and FEU. The Green Archers and the Tamaraws renew their running UAAP feud in a playoff for the second spot on Thursday, September 11. It’s a virtual Best-of-3 series. So in essence, the Final Four begins on Thursday.

Four teams remain in the hunt: Ateneo, FEU, DLSU and UE. All remain title contenders. I’m giving Ateneo the edge because it has MVP candidate Rabeh Al-Husseini leading the way and he’s surrounded by a cast that’s set on winning it all this time. FEU still has the most versatile line-up which can match-up size for size with Ateneo. I don’t care if Jvee Casio shoots zero out of1000, whichever he teams he plays for has a birthright to play in the finals. And UE…well at some point, the UAAP basketball gods will have to give these guys a break against the Blue Eagles. Ateneans are hoping heavenly hoop mercy won’t smile on the Red Warriors just yet.